Meet the Speakers: Todd Yard and David LaPalomento

Since PLAY’s inception in 2010, one session has consistently drawn high attendance rates —“Player Customization.” Todd Yard and David LaPalomento, both members of the technical staff here at Brightcove, are the brains behind this well-loved session. I spoke with them to get an idea on what attendees can expect at this year’s presentation.

[Britta] Todd and David, you guys have been at Brightcove for quite some time. Can you tell me a little about your roles and responsibilities at the company?

[Todd] I spent eight years in the Product organization working on various aspects of the player. Three years ago, I moved to the Global Services organization and I am an architect in the group. I'm working with clients to build solutions that integrate with the Brightcove services, with a primary focus on OTT development across devices.

[David] I don't have quite have the Brightcove pedigree as Todd, but I'm getting there! I joined Brightcove in 2012 to help enhance the Smart Player on mobile devices. At that time, you could still run Flash on Android phones -- things have changed a lot. Since then, I spent some time building out our early iOS and Android player SDKs and came back home to the web to lead the effort of creating the Brightcove Player.

[B] You will be presenting again at one of our most loved sessions at PLAY - "Customize Your Brightcove Web Player: Basic to Advanced." What can attendees expect to learn this year?

[T] There are a lot of great new APIs and ways to customize and build on top of the player that many attendees might not be familiar with. Hopefully, we'll present some new ideas on ways to really make your player experience tailored to your company's needs.

[D] We're shooting for a mix of hands-on tips and some conceptual background this year. Todd and I will be doing one session focused on each. If you're interested in how the player works under the hood, we should have you covered there. And, if you're looking for new techniques, customization strategies, or some design inspiration, we'll have a session to cover that as well.

[B] You both are based in Boston. Any advise on what attendees should see and do while in town?

[D] Go see Todd's play! Beyond that: check out whatever outdoor art installation they set up in the Rose Kennedy Greenway this year (also, next door), grab some amazing cannolis at Mike's or Modern Pastry in the North End, do some shopping and people watching on Newbury Street in Back Bay, or head down to Seaport Boulevard and take the tour at the Harpoon Brewery.

[T] Thanks for your support, David.

[B] Thank you both for chatting today. I am excited to see this year’s “Player customization” attendance numbers.

Meet Todd, David and the other speakers at Brightcove PLAY on May 16th, 2016 in Boston. The sold-out event is free for existing Brightcove customers. Don’t get left out next year: if you want to get on the invite list for 2017, please contact us at play@brightcove.com.

As VP of Corporate Marketing Operations, Britta wears many hats, chief among them being first lady in charge of Brightcove's industry conference, PLAY. From start to finish, she oversees every detail of the event, including logistics, content, sponsorships, production, and after-party fun. Outside the office, Britta is a master of the Svarga Dvijasana yoga pose. She also loves knitting and shopping for organic goodies.